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A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
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The Commemorative Quarter for Illinois





Outdoor Activities ...

As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).

When in River Forest, we use the following websites to find information relevant to River Forest and the surrounding area.

  • Weather ...
  • Astronomy & Satellites ...
    • Whether using binoculars, a small telescope or the naked-eye, the Heavens-Above website can help you to find your way around the night-time sky. In addition to detailed sky charts, their website will help you find planets, asteriods, comets, satellites and their tracks across the sky.
    • To give accurate results, Heavens-Above requires the latitude and longitude of your location. As a starting point, when we link to Heavens-Above, we pass this GPS location for River Forest:
    • 42.236132, -89.093161
    • Once you're on the Heavens-Above website, you can improve its accuracy by giving a more precise longitude and latitude as your actual position.
    • The Heavens-Above Website, centered on River Forest
  • Waymarking ...
    • Looking for somewhere out of the ordinary? Find a unique place and want to share it with others? Then it's time to visit Waymarking.com:
    • Waymark.com

Communities Also Named River Forest ...

We found six communities that share the name River Forest.

There is one other community in Illinois which is also named River Forest.

Beyond Illinois, we know of another five communities that are located throughout in the United States.

  • Communities Located In Illinois ...
    • Cook County
      • This River Forest is located in Cook County and lies 69 miles [111 km]<1> to the east southeast of the River Forest that is located in Winnebago County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Cook County community of River Forest.
  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Florida
      • Lake County
      • This River Forest is located in Lake County and lies 1,009 miles [1,623.8 km]<1> to the south southeast of the River Forest that is located in Winnebago County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Lake County community of River Forest.
    • Georgia
      • Fayette County
      • This River Forest is located in Fayette County and lies 651 miles [1,047.7 km]<1> to the south southeast of the River Forest that is located in Winnebago County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Fayette County community of River Forest.
    • Indiana
      • Madison County
      • This River Forest is located in Madison County and lies 228 miles [366.9 km]<1> to the southeast of the River Forest that is located in Winnebago County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Madison County community of River Forest.
    • Maryland
      • Prince George's County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<2> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Maryland community of River Forest [Prince George's County].
    • South Carolina
      • Spartanburg County
      • This River Forest is located in Spartanburg County and lies 627 miles [1,009.1 km]<1> to the southeast of the River Forest that is located in Winnebago County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Spartanburg County community of River Forest.

Curious and Interesting Names Near River Forest ...

As we travel, we always see a community with a name that gives pause. While there are names which are interesting or familiar, some catch our attention or strike our fancy. We always wonder about such a name. If time permits and the community is not too far, we'll usually try to make a side-trip.

  • Cheyenne Heights
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cheyenne Heights have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cheyenne Heights
    • Cheyenne Heights is located in Winnebago County
  • Coreys Bluff
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Coreys Bluff have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coreys Bluff
    • Coreys Bluff is located in Winnebago County
  • Coventry Creek
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Coventry Creek have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coventry Creek
    • Coventry Creek is located in Winnebago County
  • Hickory Creek
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hickory Creek have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hickory Creek
    • Hickory Creek is located in Winnebago County
  • Indian Village
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Indian Village have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian Village
    • Indian Village is located in Winnebago County
  • Jonesville
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Jonesville have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jonesville
    • Jonesville is located in Winnebago County
  • Motor Heights
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Motor Heights have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Motor Heights
    • Motor Heights is located in Winnebago County
  • Panorama Valley
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Panorama Valley have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Panorama Valley
    • Panorama Valley is located in Winnebago County
  • Ruby
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ruby have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ruby
    • Ruby is located in Winnebago County
  • Silver Hills
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Silver Hills have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Silver Hills
    • Silver Hills is located in Winnebago County

How Far From River Forest to ...

We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers, Almanacs & Directories that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a community such as River Forest to various places of note, such as the White House.

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in River Forest and extending to:

  • Rockford, which is the Seat of Winnebago County, lies just to the North.
  • Springfield, which is the State Capital of Illinois, lies 171 miles [275.2 km]<1> to the south (S). If you could drive a straight line from River Forest to Springfield, with an average speed<4>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take about three hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 10 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 7 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 672 miles [1,081.5 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving would take just about two full days, a buggy would take 27 days and walking would take 39 days.
  • The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,218 miles [10,006.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,960 miles [11,201 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,847 miles [7,800.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>

Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for River Forest. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.

The official website for Winnebago County: www.co.winnebago.il.us/

The official website for State of Illinois: https://illinois.gov

Footnotes ...

<1>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- River Forest) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in River Forest. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 42.2361, Longitude: -89.0932       In this case, the coordinates for River Forest have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<2>If we encounter the name of what might be a community, our methodology is to add that name to our Gazetteer as a placeholder. As we find more information about that community, it will be added to our Gazetteer.

Just as a reminder: Our definition of a community is rather broad and includes those places (or areas) where several families lived and had a name which identified that place. For example, you might hear somebody say that they are going over to Mile's to see Pete ... Mile's is just a gas station and a couple of homes at the crossroads. While it might not be on the map, everybody in the area knows it by that name.

Places of interest include buildings at a crossroad, several families clustered in a hollow or maybe the location of a way station. It also includes places like mines, lumber camps, ferry crossings, etc. The community might still exist, is now gone or only existed for just a short period of time.

Also keep in mind that River Forest could have been on the original document by mistake, misspelled, the original/alternate name of a community that we've listed elsewhere or was placed in the wrong county. Sometimes a post office or train station would have a different name than the community where it's located, so two names might be referring to the same community - we're working to straighten it all out.
<3>The location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required.
<4>While we have tried to pick reasonable speeds, the rate of travel is very theoretical - obstacles like fences, hills, lakes, river crossings and rest stops have been ignored. When we say 'Days' of travel, we're assuming 8 hours of travel per day.
<5>The shortest line can be visualized by stretching a string on a Globe from Point A to Point B - this is known as a Great Circle Route. Where you might expect the shortest route from River Forest to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 315.41 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 312.494 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 309.194 degrees.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 07 Apr 2024